The Poison in The Passion Movie

http://www.av1611.org./Passion/passion.html ^ | Terry Watkins

[WhatNot]

Mel Gibson’s much anticipated The Passion officially opened in theaters on Ash Wednesday, February 25, 2004. Never in history has any movie so captured the attention and adoration of the Christian community. No movie, no movement, no sermon, no revival, no event – nothing in modern history has created such a moving among the Christian world.

The first day The Passion grossed over $25 million dollars. And there appears no slowdown. After 5 days, it has now grossed over $125 million dollars. The Passion generated an unbelievable $10 million in advance sales. Many churches leased complete movie theaters to show The Passion. Some churches have rented theaters until March. Churches and prominent Christian leaders around the world are heralding The Passion as the greatest evangelical event in modern history – maybe ever. Many are crowning The Passion as the greatest presentation of the crucifixion in history – including the Word of God.

What in the world is going on?

Are we witnessing the launching of a great revival across the land as some are proclaiming? Is The Passion the "fire" that could spark a great moving of the Holy Ghost throughout the land?

We as Christians are given the charge of 2 Thessalonians 5:21 to "Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." There is nothing that we as God’s children should exclude from examination under the light of the Word of God. There is nothing, no matter how "pleasant to the eyes" (Genesis 3:6) it appears that we should automatically presume is the will of God.

And may we not forget our adversary. Satan is very crafty. His ultimate goal is "to be like the most High" (Isaiah 14:14). He is the master of counterfeiters. The Bible says in Matthew 24:24 that "false Christs shall arise" and "if possible should deceive the very elect". Satan desires to be Christ. His ultimate role would be to "act" as Jesus. With that in mind, may we always be cautious to Satan’s potential injection of poison and venom, especially when the Lord Jesus Christ is the topic. May we agree with the apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 2:11, "not to be ignorant of Satan’s devices" – "lest he should get an advantage of us".
There are some Christians who will cry "Foul, You are just looking for bad stuff in The Passion". And to that I say, "Amen". That is exactly what we as Christians are commanded to do – "Prove all things". Let us never be guilty of closing our eyes and disregarding our Bibles to any possible influence of Satan.

As we examine The Passion. let us prayerfully hold the attitude and conviction of the Bereans in Acts 17:11 who "searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so".

10 And the brethren immediately sent away Paul and Silas by night unto Berea: who coming thither went into the synagogue of the Jews.
11 These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so. Acts 17:11

Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: 1 Peter 5:8

THE SCRIPT •

Christian ministers and the news media have paraded The Passion as true to The Bible. Most of the Christians interviewed have remarked at how true and authentic it appeared.

But is it true to the Word of God?
Did Mel Gibson, with his loyal Catholic beliefs and his director’s creative ability wander outside the pages of the Word of God? Is it possible that The Passion is not entirely based upon the Bible as most Christians are led to believe? Is it entirely possible that the primary script and inspiration for The Passion is not the Bible at all – but another book?
Here is an article on MSNBC describing some of the scenes from The Passion. See if you can find these in your Bible:

Gibson’s movie begins in the garden of Gethsemane, with the disciples sleeping as Jesus prays for guidance and stomps on a snake that tempts him to avoid his destiny. There are other horrors: a screeching creature that resembles a berserk monkey, demonic children who might have wandered in from "The Exorcist," a bird that plucks out the eyes of crucified men, the gargoyle-like members of King Herod’s court,. . . (Hartl, John. Gibson's 'Passion' is bloody empty. MSNBC, )

That is nowhere in the Bible. You can search all day and all night but you will not find such silliness in the Bible. Now where in the world did Mel get that stuff from?

A few years ago, as Mel Gibson was rediscovering and renewing his Catholic faith, Mel Gibson purchased a library of hundreds of books from a closed nunnery. Mel claims as he was reaching for a book on the library shelf a supernatural intervention caused another book to "miraculously" drop into his hands. And that "miracle" book, not the Bible, not the Gospels, is the inspiration of The Passion. The book was The Dolorous Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ according to the Meditations of Anne Catherine Emmerich. Gibson claims like "magic" this book opened up a new world. "'Amazing images,' he said. 'She supplied me with stuff I never would have thought of". Who is Anne Catherine Emmerich, the mysterious script writer of The Passion?

Anne Catherine Emmerich was a famous, mystic, Catholic Nun who possessed some very unusual abilities. Anne was born on the feast of the Virgin Mary’s own nativity: September 8, 1774 in Westphalia, Germany. She became a nun of the Augustinian Order at Dulmen.

Emmerich began having supernatural visions very early in her life. By the age of four she prayed for three hours daily while being physically visited by her guardian angel. Even at that early age people around her described a "mysterious power that emanated from her."

Emmerich was found frequently practicing the occult art of levitation. Many times when she entered a room, she was clearly seen levitating above the ground. She also practiced the occult art of astral projection, claiming to "bilocate" to various places. Astral Projection is the physic ability when the soul leaves the physical body and travels beyond space and time. During her mystic astral projections, she claims to have watched the actual execution of King Louis XVI, and visited Marie Antoinette, queen of France, in prison. Some times these astral projection trips actually took her into purgatory to view the tortured souls in purgatory. Of course, the Bible does not teach purgatory. Emmerich experienced about every satanic supernatural and occult practices known.

Emmerich also bore the actual, physical wounds of Jesus Christ, called the Catholic mystic stigmata, where the actual wounds of Christ supernaturally appear on the hands, feet and head. According to supposedly verified medical reports, her supernatural stigmata wounds were half an inch in size and found in her hands, feet, side, head and bled profusely, especially on Fridays (the Catholic’s erroneous day of the crucifixion).
At times the blood flowed so heavy from the supernatural stigmata wounds, the blood would completely soak the bandages and freely flow on the ground. According to various sources, this was all verified by medical doctors. One physician who examined Emmerich said, "There can be no question of imposture in this case. The wounds speak for themselves, at least to a man of science. To ascribe them to natural causes such as imagination, induction, analogy, or similar causes, is simply impossible."

According to her biographers, the last 12 years of Anne’s life she ate no food except the bread and wine of the Holy Eucharist. In other words, she supposedly lived for over 12 years on nothing but the Catholic Eucharist or Mass. To put it bluntly, Anne Catherine Emmerich was a very spiritually disturbed lady.

Emmerich experienced common occurrences of supernatural visions. During these visions she claims to have "seen" the creation of Heaven, the fall of the angels, the creation of the earth, paradise and many other such scenes. During these demonic visions she also claims to have "seen" the actual crucifixion of Jesus Christ take place. Anne wrote a book titled, The Dolorous Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ from these visions. And according to Mel Gibson, these demonic crucifixion visions, called the Dolorous Passion, became the "supernatural imposed" script and inspiration for The Passion – not the Gospels. This was the book that "supernaturally" fell into his hands that became the script and inspiration for The Passion.

Mel Gibson is so devoted to Emmerich, his cherished possession is a piece of cloth that was once part of Emmerich's habit [garment]. Gibson carries the sacred Emmerich cloth in his pocket. During his PrimeTime interview with Diane Sawyer, Mel proudly displayed his miracle cloth for the world to see. I wonder how many pastors and Christians who watched this interview did not even question Mel’s fanatical devotion to Emmerich? Here are a few quotes by Anne Catherine Emmerich:

"The Church is the only one, the Roman Catholic! And if there were left upon earth but one Catholic, he would be the one, universal Church, the Catholic Church, the Church of Jesus Christ against which the gates of Hell shall never prevail."

"Then I had the sweet assurance that Mary is the Church; the Church, our mother; God, our father; and Jesus, our brother."

"I have had a great vision on the mystery of Holy Mass and I have seen that whatever good has existed since creation is owing to it."

To read the whole article go here.

http://www.av1611.org./Passion/passion.html

[WhatNot]

With all the bally-hoo about The Passion Movie I thought I'd throw another point of view into the mix. I do this to mainly make Born Again Christians aware of certain things in the Movie that would be considered adding to the Word of God which is strickly forbidden in the Bible. In my opinion if you are thinking about using a movie to help evangelize a friend or family member, a better choice would be the Jesus Film. May the Lord bless you and yours..

[AAABEST]

Please.

This morbid outlook that imperfection = evil is asinine and troggish. You have people of all faiths coming together and people who had either gone astray or had never been Christian picking up bibles and talking about Jesus.

It's a bit pathetic that we finally have a movie which glorifies Christ and inspires Christians yet still are forced to suffer a handful of impish fools somehow making it out to be evil by using tortured logic, instead of using the brain that God gave them to see the good in it.

Are we to classify Rembrandts "The Ascension" as evil because he didn't have the correct number of onlookers or used the wrong shade for Christ's robe?

[jude24]

What do you expect from a website that is dedicated to the King James version of the Bible and the eeevils of contemporary Christian music?

It's crap like this that's marginalizing the fundamentalists.

[findingtruth]

Yeah, there are details in the movie that aren't in the Bible -- interpretations of how Judas' demonic possession might have played itself out, how Satan might have tried to influence people, how Herod probably behaved, behavior of Simon of Cyrene, etc., but nothing contradicting the Bible on any matter of doctrinal importance. The most vitriolic attacks on The Passion represent both the secular world's hatred of Christianity and the fundamentalists' hatred of Catholicism.

[AAABEST]

I have no problem with the KJV of the bible, in fact it's very beautifully written, despite the parts that Luther took upon himself to eliminate.

Where the problem lies is when jerky types take something that is clearly good and spiritually uplifting and somehow superstitiously wring it into something it's not.

These same people will hear a song that glorifies God in every stanza, yet call it evil because the nomenclature used to describe it is Christian "Rock". After all, we all know that the term "rock" came from the slang for sex which was "rock and roll". So even if it's the most glorious song on earth, because it's called "Christian Rock" it wrong and evil.

This is their thinking.

I'm Catholic and I don't have a problem with my "sola scriptura" brethren at all. I'm happy that people are focusing on Jesus. That said it's imbeciles who come up with this nonsense who are a good case against these shut-in churches that lose their way. Such is often the case when people read the bible and use limited intelligence and shoddy wisdom to interpret it.

Mark 9
38 And John answered him, saying, Master, we saw one casting out devils in thy name, and he followeth not us: and we forbad him, because he followeth not us.
39 But Jesus said, Forbid him not: for there is no man which shall do a miracle in my name, that can lightly speak evil of me.
40 For he that is not against us is on our part.
41 For whosoever shall give you a cup of water to drink in my name, because ye belong to Christ, verily I say unto you, he shall not lose his reward.

[WhatNot]

You have people of all faiths coming together and people who had either gone astray or had never been Christian picking up bibles and talking about Jesus.

If we had more people reading their Bibles instead of just picking them up, alot more people would be hearing the Gospel of Christ, and not be taking in by false doctrine, just because it has the name Jesus attached to it. I praise the Lord that my faith is not just talking about Jesus, alot of religions talk about Jesus, my faith is Jesus. He is my Rock and my Redeemer. May the Lord bless you and yours..

[AAABEST]

If we had more people reading their Bibles instead of just picking them up...

You just made my point beautifully. Of course I meant reading them, what do you think people do when they buy them, "pick them up" or study them? Are you telling me that it's somehow hell bent that someone who hadn't "picked up" a bible in the past is now doing so?

I'm sorry, but you people are just narcisists who think you're endowed with some God-given authority to judge everyone and everything. In your small world nobody is worshipping God properly (perfectly) except you, in the tiny little white chapel with no history, wisdom or input from other Christian thinkers or Godly sources.

You've figured out all by yourselves that everyone else says and does all the wrong things at all the wrong times. We can't have people "picking up" bibles NOW CAN WE?.

[WhatNot]

1 Corinthians 5:6
Your glorying is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump?

[WhatNot]

You just made my point beautifully. Of course I meant reading them, what do you think people do when they buy them, "pick them up" or study them?

Most people who buy Bibles, put them up on the bookcase and forget about them.

I'm sorry, but you people are just narcisists who think you're endowed with some God-given authority to judge everyone and everything.

If judging others is wrong, then why are you judging me?

[AAABEST]

There you go pointing that finger of yours again.

Did you not read the previous five verses of 1 Corinthians 5, or did you just take that one line to use as a weapon with which to attempt to malign your brother?

Because if you would have read the first five verses, you would have seen the subject dealt with fornication and mortal sins of the flesh, not people you're losing an argument with in a chat room.

But hey, who am I to correct one who has been sent by God himself to judge us all for our imperfections.

[PayNoAttentionManBehindCurtain]

If judging others is wrong, then why are you judging me?

Nice come back! :)

BigMack

[ArrogantBustard]

1) It was made by one of those dreadful Popish Romanists.

2) The actors aren't reciting the "authorized" version of 1611 in British accents.

Therefore it is evil.

[WhatNot]

I know what it deals with, and this movie is a fornication of the Bible, and if you add to the Word of God, God will add to him the plagues that are written in His Word. read Revelation 22:18-19 And pray for Mel!

[Unam Sanctam]

It is not adding to the Word of God, since a movie is not Holy Writ. The additional material to the Gospel account are complementary and not inconsistent with the Gospel account.

[jude24]

Rev 22:18-19 is irrelevant to this; that speaks only to the book of the Apocalypse.

[AAABEST]

If judging others is wrong, then why are you judging me?

I'm pointing out exactly what you people do. That isn't judging.

You have a lot of nerve condemning everyone and everything when you don't seem to be all that holy yourselves. With broad strokes ya'll put down millions of people, entire denominations and congregations and all of the deeply dedicated Godly people and wise religious leaders.

The heretical gnostics used to do the same. They believed they had the "secret" that others didn't, they were special.

Somehow you can't see what's wrong with that. That's because you're unguided authorities unto yourselves and just make it up as you go.

Although I probably am guilty of being harsh or the sin of anger, pointing out sinful behavior isn't judging anyone. I'm actually required by my faith to do so.

[WhatNot]

Mel didn't use any of the Word of God in his movie? Mel didn't add to that Holy Writ? Mel would have been better off, if he had just left any words from the Bible out of the movie, rather than to dilute their original meaning. My opinion is that if your going to take the time to make a movie about Christ, any movie, than let the Bible speak for itself, it doesn't need any enhancements, the Word of God will stand on it's own

[AAABEST]

....let the Bible speak for itself, it doesn't need any enhancements, the Word of God will stand on it's own

Good then. From now on when you enter an online forum, just quote scripture and state nothing else. No more loopy interpretations and sermonizing.

At that point you'll be practicing what you preach.

[WhatNot]

Judging is telling other people what is the right thing and what is the wrong thing to do. Statements like:

You have a lot of nerve!

is telling someone else, you think what they are doing is wrong, and how dare they do that, so you ARE judging. May the Lord bless you and yours.

[ahadams2]

*sigh*, the sad part about articles like this is that they demonstrate the limits of the author's knowledge and experience, far more than they are ever able to convince anyone who doesn't already hold exactly, or nearly exactly, the same views. Not that such articles are in and of themselves bad (everybody has to rally the troops from time to time) but when the author clearly demonstrates a lack of overall comprehension of the movie's symbolism, it tends to discredit his other views as well.